a massive fire at the home of a d.c. activist raised concerns about the city's water supply. the white house meeting between the president, police officer, and the professor comes to start right now. the skins finally open training camp officially. a bus driver who apparently was talking on her phone while on the job could be the first person to be fired under the metro system's new zero tolerance policy. good evening. i'm v im jan w. im y a wen baky a today news4 showed the picture to john catoe. chris gordon has more from the takoma metro station on his reaction. chris? >> reporter: we are here tonight because this is the station from which the bus departed. the bus on which the driver is apparently photographed using a cell phone. general manager john catoe says he knows who it is and is angry and is taking steps to fire her. it happened on a number 63 metro bus from takoma station.

the person who posted the picture, writer named brian, says it was tuesday morning at about 8:30 when they got to the stop just outside othe petworth metro station, the driver got off the bus and started talking on her phone for approximately three minutes. t goe back on the bus after the passengers yelled at hergo get moving. an sheer was still talking, phoe to her ear, as she pulled out in traffic driving several hundred feet before ending the call. general manager john catoe after taking calls from the public on wtop radio said the operator has been identified and an investigation could lead to her termination. >> i'm embarrassed and angered when this happened because they know it reflects on them. this will not be tolerated. there's no second chance. we will take the necessary action. if the person using a cell phone and operating any of our vehicles will be terminated. >> reporter: the union

ntpresenting transit workers sgay iint reisaying it isre slowhe t grieva nc pcoroeorlto a fnynd a e dil members. ned li terminated under wmata's zero-tolerance policy. 689 will closeonitor all investigationsndnn psoerel actions to ensuelhe appropriate outcome. advancing safety is our number one priority. we showed the picture of the bus driver on the cell phone to some metro riders. >> she is not a safe driver. she shouldn't be operating a bus driving like that. it is not safe for the passengers. they should be saying something about it. >> reporter: what do you think metro ought to do about it? >> she should be get fired. >> reporter: but not all metro passengers think the driver deserves to be fired. >> they say they are going to fire her? perhaps warning. it is her job. it is really hard right now. >> warn you. you knows, then eventually terminate them if you can't follow the rules, no alternative but to fire you.

>> reporter: now until last month, metro had a three strikes and you are out policy which meant the first cell phone violation led to a one-week suspension. the second, two weeks, et cetera. but in june, they instituted the zero tolerance policy which means one cell phone violation leads to termination. we are live at the takoma park station. jim, back to you. >> chris gordon. thank you, chris. a different kind of trouble for another metro driver who is facing kidnapping charges after police say he refused to let a passenger off his bus. this happened in prince george's county this weekend. boarded the bus at the s a suitland metro station and got into an argument with the driv. en she wanted the get off the bus at regency parkway, the authorities say the driver refused. metro says the driver will be fired if h is found guilty. a number of people stuck in an elevator at the woodley park metro station at 3:00 today, six adults and power children, they were on the elevator when it got

tuck. firefighters were called in to help them and the baby received medical attention and everyone else was fine. the home of a washington activist was completely destroyed after a msive fire. the home of peggy cooper cafritz caught fire. the only thing left is a burnt shell. investigators are looking into water supply problems that forced firefighters to go to neighboring areas to get enough water to fight the fire. derrick ward has our report. >> reporter: a luxurious home full of private artwork reduced to raging inferno. >> tremendous devastation. our hearts go out to the family. >> reporter: the fire started wednesday night. crews were on the show shortly after making progressttacking the fire from the inside but then something happened. >> we really struggled with the water pressure. about 10, 15 minutes later, we called for a second alarm. eventually we had about 150

firefighters on the scene. >> reporter: but they would have to attack the blaze from the outside. hoses had to be run more than a thousand feet to the nearest properly working hydrant and the ongoing issue that came to bear on this blaze. >> we feel like with the appropriate water supply, we would have been able to curb this. exactly what happened to the water supply, we are not sure. >> reporter: the hydrants are the responsibility of the water and sewer authority. >> distribution system and collaboration with the fire department to ensure we can deliver a thousand gallons per minute to residents within the district. we believe that there was a thousand gallons available per minute and that's where we have crews on the street now to confirm. >> reporter: residents of this neighborhood say they can confirm there have been issues with water pressure for months. >> very little. sometimes how, you know, makes those funny noises. every day almost. >> higher elevation. work going down on the street.

opening pipes down the street, things of that nature. it can drop pressure but i don't think that was the issue here. >> reporter: the cause of the fire is still under investigation as are the factors that ensued afterwards. one thing for sure. the lack of pressure will undoubtedly turn up the pressure on public officials to see if the problem is solved completely. mary chase calling for an investigation why water pressure has been such a problem in that neighborhood. president obama is having a er now with harvard professor henry gates and the cambridge, massachusetts, police sergeant who arrested gates last week. the two men arrived at the white house just moments ago. they are going to discuss gates' arrest on disorderly conduct charges and try to put to rest ans dent which has garnered plenty of attention nationwide. steve handelsman is live at the white house with more on this. steve? >> reporter: good evening. we are on the north lawn as always. if they are on schedule, that's a big issue at that time white house. on the south side in the rose garden. time to pop the caps.

red stripe for the professor, blue moon for the cambridge police sergeant, and the president's beer, president obama says don't call this a beer summit. he describes it as far less. he said, and i'm quoting, giving three folks a chance to talk and listen to each other. but whatever you call it, one of the reasons, maybe the main reason, the president put thing together is to get americans to stop talking about his intervention in this controversy. from the time officers arrived at the home of the harvard professor to the time the president weighed in. the cambridge police acted stupidly. ld have calibrated those off. words differently. >> reporter: everybody's judgment has been analyzed. notably, president obama's. >> i can see where he is coming from. >> reporter: the naacp agreed. >> commend him for having the courage to raise issues about racial profiling. >> reporter: but a house republican is offering a bill. >> calling upon president obama to retract and apologize for his

remarks. >> reporter: 80% of americans in today's pew research poll say they are aware of the president's statement and by 4-3 they disapprove. >> surrendering an opinion before you get the facts which is what the president did. just silly. >> reporter: so beer. abraham lincoln once said to meet any crisis bring people the real facts and beer. the brand, bud light. that's what the president will have. the place, no the picnic bench. they changed to a roundtable in the rose garden. the procedure p. gates gets a tour of the white house and crowley gets the tour. the two men get one-on-one time. and then beer with barack obama. reviewhe t his has been called

custody's view at a heari

. the opposition leader in iran, mousavi joining in that sawyer moany. >> rough in nigeria, in the northern part of nigeria. all of this comes one day after nigerian troops allowed explosive shells at the militants' compound. we are told they killed at least 100 of them there. several other militants escaped and the fighting forced 1,000 people who lived in that area out of their homes. the militants are accused of attacking police stations, churches, prisons, and government buildings in a wave

of violence that began last sunday. still ahead on news4, someone launched concrete through a window and sent a maryland girl to the hospital with head injuries. a ship completely destroyed by fire. >> bob is back with a check on our weather. there's something big happening at pizza hut. - woooh, nice! - that's a lot of food! now get big meals like our stuffed pizza rolls, pizza mia, the p'zone... and our personal panormous pizza starting at just $5. the big eat tiny price menu. only at pizza hut.

- woooh, nice! - that's a lot of food! now get big meals like our stuffed pizza rolls, pizza mia, the p'zone... and our personal panormous pizza starting at just $5. the big eat tiny price menu. only at pizza hut. it certainly has gotten very

july-esque. >> humid and warm. we haven't had anything really above 95. not even close to 100. peach of a summer. outside today, it was a sunny, warm one. not 90 degrees, though. our temperature today, while it tried, i thought we might get into the low 90s. 89 degrees. right now, right now, this july, more than 2 1/2 degrees cooler than average. and i did a quick look back in the record books. coolest since 2001. coolest july we have had in eight years. july, i remember, is our oddest month on average -- hottest month on average. ever had july hotter than july? yes. outside now we have a hazy sky. a few showers out to our west. 84 degrees. humidity. dew point, 67. it is sort of average for july. nothing too terrible or oppressive with the southerly wind. here is what's going on around the country. where is the heat, you ask? you can't. not yesterday around chicago. in the 70s. buffalo, it was in the 70s.

how about seattle, washington? 103 degrees. portland, oregon, 106 degrees. and vancouver, just across the river, portland, hottest day ever. 107 degrees. vancouver, washington. portland now had six 90-degree days in a row. they may set a recor for the biggest streak of 90-degree days. again today, it is in the 90s. pacific northwest. boy, 92 right now. right now in seattle, washington. while we are at 86 degrees. brownsville, almost as hot as attle. here's what's been going on and the reason. the big pattern, jet stream, way up to the north. there is a big ridge out west. on the other hand, slips to the south. so it keeps the east reasonably cool. but also embedded in that are some more spins and showers in the atmosphere. sort of the -- wild weather we saw yesterday. right now out to our west for folks in the mountains of west virginia, there are a few scattered showers there.

a couple firing up around charlestown, west virginia. some of those may yet move into northern parts of maryland. doesn't look like quite anything like we saw yesterday. certainly. although i think tomorrow afternoon we may be seeing some of those nasty ones around washington. few folks around fredericksburg, nothing much going on. but here's where the action is. these are now tornado watches out until 1:00 in the morning. another line of violent weather sweeping through parts of the south. you can see all the warnings going out. right here in washington. we have had the grand total of only .05 of an inch of rain yesterday. leesburg has been dry. but look at fredericksburg. over four inches. around knoxville, they have had almost ten incs of rain. so as we go through the nighttime hours, what we will see is the showers dissipating. tomorrow, though, we will still be in the humid air and then some of that spin, area of low pressure, will be moving once again to our west and around

that, with that spin and because of the jet, we may be seeing some nasty thunderstorms develop. then it moves off as we get into the weekend. but tomorrow, once again, there is a slight risk of some severe thunderstorms all the way from new england and including us, especially for you folks once again out to the east and down in the tide water area which really have been catching us the last few days. so for the remainder of the evening, though, chance for a few scattered showers. temperatures will dip in the low 80s. over the nt few hours. fair amount of clouds around. i think they will break up once again. we may see morning sunshine and it will be warm and humid when you get up, sunrise now, 6:08. have you noticed how those days are getting a little bit darker earlier? and then during the afternoon, just to mixture of clouds and sunshine. if we see the showers and thundershowers, they are more likely t b tomorrow afternoon. there could be a little batch in the morning of showers for folks across northern maryland. but most of the action, i think, will be late in the afternoon

and evening. then it moves by and saturday still looks like a fine day with temperatures mid to high 80s. bit more comfortable of humidity. late sunday there could be another batch of thunderstorms. saturday right now looks like the better of the two days. then august, the temperatures next week, mid to high 80s to around 90 degree. >> not too bad. >> august. >> thanks, bob. coming up tonight, a teenager in maryland in a hospital after somebody threw a chunk of concrete into the car in which she was riding. >> another python is in the news. this one is loose in montgomery county. to new york city, they want to save money by buying homeless people one-way tickets out of town. coming up in sports, nationals manager jim riggleman gets kicked out of his first game. also, redskins coach jim zorn playinfashion police for his players. and not all fans showed up to redskins park in support of jason campbell.

a look at the stories ming headlines tonight. > a m h br af water after a a o ph at photo that apparently shows her inlk tlheinel c phone while driving. she could be fired.r jnel yssa

gethe aync iti aynsdte zero tolerance policy for cell phone usage. right now at the white house, president is sitting down for a beer with harvard professor lewis gates and cambridge police sergeant crowley. mr. obama is trying to smooth things over after crowley's arrest of gates prompted a nationwide discussion about race. coming up in this half hour, a teenager had to be hospitalized after someone threw a concrete block into a car she was riding in. a python is on the loose in montgomery county. were going to tell you about new york city's plan to buy homeless people plane tickets out of town. we are getting a firsthand look into what it was like as police interrogated a d.c. woman who was found guilty of killing her four daughters. news4 obtained video of the interrogation which was used as evidence in banita jacks trial. pat collins has our report. >> reporter: it is the six-hour

long police intiregatierrogatio. over and over, banita jacks denies doing anything to harm her girls. she says it was just something that happened in their sleep.d this is niksta jn i aac police interview room. hours after her four daughters were found dead in her home on sixth street southeast. she's wearing a police provided paper jumpsuit with a white material wrapped around her head. she told the detectives her daughters were possessed by demons and that they died in their sleep. >> how much time pass bid between the little one didn't wake up to the one next to the youngest didn't wake up? >> wait a minute. what are you saying? >> when you say they didn't wake up. >> one mate and then the next

night. two days later and then the next one. >> what did you think happened to them? >> like i was telling you, i didn't understand exactly what happened. i was thinking about it and it just didn't make any sense to me. i could not -- i have never hurt a child. in my life. i would not. i know what your evidence is saying but that is not what happened. >> reporter: >> when they didn't wake up, why didn't you go get help for them? >> because i knew that this was going to happen.

>> reporter: the prosecution presented evidence that three of jacks' daughters were tdha tedne and that oneas w stbed. felony murder, four counts of child cruelty. she could get life without parole. now the sentencing in this case is set for october p 16th. banita jacks tried to have it moved from that date. october 16th was the birthday of one of her daughters. >> bizarre. her lawyers, though, insist they are going to appeal this decision. right? they want to -- go ahead. >> they are going to appeal. but you have to understand in this case, it was banita jacks who ruled not to mountain insanity defense. it was banita jacks that decided not to have a jury trial, to have a trial by judge. both of those contrersial decisions and sort of overruled her own attorneys.

>> thanks, pat. a fiery crash this morning in virginia that caused a lot of problems for commuters and it was on the westbound lanes of i-66 near the sycamore street. four vehicles involved. police s the impact caused one of the fuel tanks to rupture and burst into flames but there were no injuries. all four lanes were blocked for a few hours and traffic was backed up for more than a mile. the lanes did reopen and the cause of the crash still under investigation. a 15-year-old girl from waldorf is hospitalized after she was hit in the head with a concre blo. passenger.rew into the car. is hthpassenger. thisigtn it. sn it. s mary's county. the concre t w tenhrough the id sin's w aewdoie girl in the head. julie carey reports. >> reporter: it is a common enough summer scene. a car full of teenagers cruising along theuroa r rd r aws wdoin rolled down. suddenly around 6:00 last night near mechanicsville, one group's summer ride came to an abrupt end. someone threw a chunk of concrete at their car.

police say waits a rock like this, softball sized that someone tossed through the open driver's side window. but the driver ducked. >> the projectile struck a 15-year-old female that was in the back seat of the car. she was unconscious at that time. >> reporter: the teens traveling in a black cadillac stopped at a nearby house to call for help. eventually the victim was airlifted to washington hospital center suffering from a skull fracture. along cavanaugh road today, few wanted to talk about the incident. most who live in this tight knit enclave are relatives. willie burton says the car's 19-year-old driver is his cousin. >> i don't know what is going on. couple of people saying that guys are beefing with each other or some. y really know. >> reporter: police have recovered the piece of concrete and are testing it. they believe that the rock throwing was not random, that someone who knew the driver

targeted him. >> the area that this occurred in, everyone in that area knows everyone. they frequent the area a lot. so we believe that more than likely this was not a random incident. >> reporter: the uninjured teens say they did not see who threw the rock but police believe they are looking for a single suspect. julie carey, news4, st. mary's county. >> police think suspect threw the concrete from a wooded area close to the road. police in prince william county are looking for a guy that held up a fast food location by jumping through the drive-thru window. surveillance video in manassas. a guy drove up to the window and jumped through the window and had a knife, we are told. demanded money. the employees ran away while the guy took cash from the registers and climbed back through the window and got in his car and drove away. there was a snake on the loose in gaithersburg. a python. three feet long. he escaped from an aquarium at a

condominium. a resident snapped this photo of the snake as it was getaway. christian is loo kiwatangy. christian is looking extra hard r the snake because he was supposed to be pet sitting for a friend. >> he loves this snake. he will be heartbroken. doesn't know yet. i have been looking for it. i hope i find it before she comes back. >> reporter: pittillo says the make is not particularly dangerous. it could be if it was full grown. it is only three feet. there's a $100 reward if you find it. and return it safely. coming up tonight, homeless people getting free plane tickets in new york city. we will tell why you. >> replica of the 17th century ship destroyed by fire. >> easy for you to say. we are going to tell you about a 7-year-old boy who really didn't want to go to church. you have to lo?o?o

new york city is buying one-way tickets for homeless people that will agree to get out of town. under the plan the city will buy each person a one-way ticket anywhere in the world as long as they have a relative there that agrees to take them in. the new plan is designed to save on housing the homeless. the program is voluntary. so far people have been sent to 24 states and five continents. a replica of the 17th

century ship was destroyed by fire early this morning in the netherlands. smoke was spotted from the ship just after midnight. the firefighters couldn't locate the source and they just let the fire burn itself out. the ship was built in '85 but modeled after a ship from the dutch east india company. the ship has been anchored in japan for years before it was moved to the netherlands in 2003. family, friends, dignitaries, well-wishers bid farewell today to a man who earned his place in history. henry allingham was one of britain's last survivors of world war i. he died last week at the age of 113. allingham was an aircraft mechanic and gunner with the royal air force. he was buried today with full military honors. >> he blew the dust off the history books for us. he breathed life into our heritage and he reminded us of our roots, those that had gone before and those who had made

the ultimate sacrifice. >> the end of the service, a fly-by featuring replicas of world war i aircraft. by the way, there's word allingham's mother begged him not to sign up when the war broke out. but a year after her death in 1915, he, in fact did sign up. still ahead, from herbal supplements to acupuncture. we will tell you how much americans spent last year on alternative medicine. >> and lindsay czarniak is at redskins park. what's going on? >> cooley and jim zorn come to an agreement on short shorts. go figure. clinton portis takes the time to talk a little training camp. if we are talking redskins, we are going to talk about jason campbell on the very unusual offseason as "news4 at 6:00" continues.

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♪ tell me who's watching. (announcer) it's right here. it's easy. r ♪ i lindsay is having big fun. baking out there at rskins park. let me see your tan. i know you have one already. >> here we are. hot off the grill. i think dan hellie beats me because he spends all his time at the beach. >> i wish. >> a great day out here. the redskins, they are actually not in full pads until saturday morning. you can say things are laid back today. but at least they were able to make it through the first day without two season ending injuries that they had last year. >> very first play of training camp last year. phillip daniels goes down with a torn acl. he said i sat out the first couple plays this year. just to play it safe. he was fine afterwards. >> you know what, the players

talking about how comfortable it is this second year in this system. jason campbell, one of the guys that says he can't wait to get it going. let me take you back to the field. it was interesting when campbell walked on to the field this morning because he was excited to be here. some folks were voicing their opinions. d.c. wants vick. jason was a good sport. he said it is all rolling off his back like water. he is focused on being the leader on the field. more vocal out there. jason did say he is focusing on staying positive ask you know what today he had a good sense of humor. >> yeah. first thing i see is d.c. wants vick. i started laughing to myself about it. i was like -- you know, everyone has their certain opinion about things. but like i saids, it is all about your mindset and staying positive and continuing to keep working and, you know, see what happens. right now competing against myself. let it all hang out. >> redskins quarterback jason campbell readyo let it all hang you on. you know what the good

temperature gauge for how it is going at training camp, clinton portis. today he looked like he was pretty happy. >> today our photographer was out here bright and early. guess who was run sprints? 100-yard sproynts the field. clinton portis. he was taking his conditioning tests that everybody had to take but for the first day of school, everybody is in good spir sxwlits clinton portis has a renewed sense of vigor to be out here. it is interesting what he said after practice. he said that he is happy with not only the fact that zorn seems more comfortable, also that zorn is willing to give more give and take with the buys and change things that he thought were a little bit too strict last season. >> for the training camp we had last year, you know, that this team went through, you know, i think we had kur few of going out to san francisco and we were out of the playoffs. we had curfew on friday night. so some things, you know, is kind of -- you don't do. you know. as grown help. you don't want people rebelling. which it was last game of the season. we still had a game to play.

we was here that friday night, you know. we don't have a curfew but because we was on the road we did. it was just -- it was just ruining things. this year he came back with a chance to let us be men. >> clinton portis talking about frustrations he had last season as far as coach jim zorn. but then he was very clear to say that the two have a very strong relationship and they are working with each other and he said that people are now starting to understand how him and jim zorn roll together and why they are productive. >> it is not just portis and zorn. it is zorn and the whole team. everybody is feeling so much more comfortable. you know, before a productive training camp you have to have a productive pretraining camp meeting. he tells them what he likes and doesn't like. he also tells them what he wants them to look like. he wanted some uniformity in the key practice gear this year which was something they did not have last season. some of the guys came out like malcon kelly. you have to check out the shoes.

jane if he was wanting to look like ronald mcdonald or what. they were yellow. then you had some of the longer shorts. favorite style. of course, you had the short shorts. always sported by chris cooley which thank goodness aren't quite as skimpy this year. apparently all of the gear down to the length of the shorts had to be approved by coach zorn. he modeled several different styles during his pre-camp meeting. one reason all the players -- comfort level is a lot better this year. >> zorn knew what to expect. we set rules in the team meeting st night and it was a cooley meeting. they said no -- can't break the dress code. he actually went out of the way and team designed cooley shorts for me. and he wore them in the team meeting. he tried them on in the team meeting. >> he wore your short shorts? >> in the team meeting and said i have the cooley shorts. he doesn't have to wear outlandish clothing. >> just took the long sweats off and i had these really nice

below the knee cutoffs and they are awesome. the guy that had them on today was -- was colt brennan. then i -- i took those off and i was not down to my shorts. but i was down to the chris cooley style. which was real high cut. right. so that's what he was talking about. i had the chris cooley look. if you wanted it you could go with the chris cooley look. he can't understand why the whole team doesn't go for the chris cooley look. it just looks like, you know, early '70s. that's all. >> kelly called the short shorts huggers. some of the other guys said that coach zorn should not be wearing them because his legs were way too skinny to be wearing shorts like that. >> we have seen that jim zorn has worn shorts that short. his counterpart, steve largent, back in the '70s. we happen to have that photo. i love this. the tube socks, right. >> i would love to show this picture to each and every one of the prayers because i'm sure they said zorn was a little more buff back then than he is now. >> not so skinny.

>> that's hilarious. >> it is. tube socks are my favorite. getting on to more serious redskins news today. brian orakpo was the only guy not out here on the field. he hasn't yet signed his contract. the redskins are hopeful that deal gets down done. moving to the nationals. more major league baseball news. there were two more names added to the 2003 list of those that tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. manny ramirez as well as boston slugger david ortiz. as important the nationals, the nationals, well, it was the first game the new manager jim riggleman got to basically watch from outside of the stadium. third inning. hernandez is at the plate. hernandez takes control. tries to lay down the bunt. ball hits the ground. and the bat. hernandez called out. you mo at? jim riggleman not too happy about that call.

riggleman goes to the plate. he starts to argue. the umpire having none of it. this is why the nationals have him. this why they want riggleman. he broke out and got feisty. >> the umpire says see you. fourth inning. nationals are down 2-0. ryan zimmerman is up trying to do it for his manager. two on and crushes it. three-run homer. nationals take the lead. zimmerman so happy about that one. flexing the muscle in the dugout the tie game. jason kendall up at bat. grounds it to third. zimmerman throws home in time. guess what. nieves was not there in time to get the tag down. cameron slid in safely. nieves couldn't believe the missed opportunity there and with that play, the nationals lose that game 7-3. ck out here at redskins park. it is hot. i'm wondering why you don't sweat at all. >> stop it. >> please. >> i just wanted to add, the

maryland wide receiver, bet i sign ad huge contract with the raiders while the redskins are waiting for their first round draft pick to sign. he gets $38 million over five years. $23 million guaranteed. seventh overall pick. >> superstar with maryland. good day out here for the redskins. they will be back at it bright and early tomorrow with the redskins first round draft choice brian orakpo. >> it is also good for haywood. >> very good. >> good for them. >> when we come back we will take a closer look at the alternative medicine and just how much money americans are spending for those treatments. >> we are going to show you a 7-year-old boy that really, really did not want to go to church ost tun. there's something big happening at pizza hut. - woooh, nice! - that's a lot of food! now get big meals like our stuffed pizza rolls, pizza mia, the p'zone... and our personal panormous pizza starting at just $5. the big eat tiny price menu. only at pizza hut.

- woooh, nice! - that's a lot of food!

now get big meals like our stuffed pizza rolls, pizza mia, the p'zone... and our personal panormous pizza starting at just $5. the big eat tiny price menu. only at pizza hut. . one town has discovered a novel way to get a job done and save money. herding sheep. they trim the lawn in delhi township. the grass used to be mowed twice a week. the savings will amount to $10,000 just this year. and nearby residents are using the sheep's wool to make socks. when most people think of health care it means a doctor, prescriptions and hospital visits. there is new study that finds more consumers are seeking alternative therapies. they are willing to spend big bucks to get it. here is tracie potts with that story. >> reporter: nearly four in

every ten americans use what the government calls complimentary and alternative medicine. acupuncture, chiropractors, massage therapists or self-care like fish oil, herbs and other natural products. these treatments are usually not covered by insurance so the government says americans are spending more than $33 billion a year out of pocket. >> if conventional care doesn't work the alternative therapies seem to be safe and they are certainly a growing body of evidence suggesting that they are effective. >> very relaxing. >> reporter: allison started acupuncture eight years ago for relief from insomnia and anxiety. >> my health today versus what it was eight years ago, no comparison. >> reporter: she pays out of pocket but like other patients says it is worth it. >> hasn't gotten rid of my headaches but reduce it is frequency. and i -- just feel better. all over. >> reporter: the recession appears to have had little effect. >> even with the economic

downturn and people are still seeking our servic. >> reporter: the government survey finds almost everyone using alternative therapies also using traditional medicines. >> we are not trying to replace the conventional care. we are trying to add to it. >> reporter: even with billions spent and 354 million visits to nontraditional practitioners, it makes up 1.5% on what the country spends on health care. tracie potts, news4. despite the growing interest in these alternative therapies, it is only a small part of the ongoing health care debate on capitol hill. tonight at 11:00, the mayor and fire chief walk the neighborhood where the huge fire started last night and where neighbors have serious concerns about water pressure and their safety. also we will have a full report the meeting over beers at that time white house and any comments from those involved. $5 lunches seem to be everywhere you turn. which restaurant has the best value? you will remember this one. happened in utah. deputies out there were chasing

this car that was request going along for ten blocks. the driver weaved in and out of traffic lanes, blew through a couple of stop signs, in fact. speed was was erratic. all is captured on the dash cam. the cops nye knew they had to stop the driver. what they didn't knew who the driver was. there it is. drivers stopped at s house. there he is. 7 years old. boy got home. got out of the car. started running faster than the car. the kid said that he took the car because he did not want to go to church. the parents made hill go. hay decided he didn't want to go. so he took the car and he went home. we have an investigative unit determining when and at what point that child will be able to sit down again. it might be a while. >> he drove the heck out of that car. he did drive that car.